TECH IS REVOLUTIONIZING OUR SEXUALITY

Sextech is already establishing itself as a reality in our daily lives, rewarding a sex toy in a salon historically dedicated to televisions and smartphones, we had to dare.

In January 2019, the Consumer Electronic Show in Las Vegas thus panicked the tech market by awarding the Robotics Innovation of the Year Award (robotics and drones category) to Osé, a sextoy designed by the young start-up Lora DiCarlo. By observing it through a purely technological prism, Osé is indeed a concentrate of technology and innovation.

Designed to reproduce "all the sensations of the human mouth, tongue and fingers", the sex toy is the subject of eight pending patents, and constitutes a "technical feat in biomimicry and robotics" considers its founder Lora Haddock. The presence of Osé in a show devoted to new technologies raises a questioning: have sex toys at this point become technological objects like any other.

When sex is inspired by tech

Far from the realistic and garish sextoys of the 2000s, the design of toys for adults has undergone a real revolution in recent years, to the point that certain devices no longer have much to envy the sacrosanct iPhone. In addition to their design worthy of a connected speaker, the sex toys now incorporate a real concentrate of technology. Whether it is the biomimicry of Lora Di Carlo, or the low frequency vibration of the London brand Je Joue, nothing is too good to satisfy its users, and to initiate the sexual revolution of tomorrow. Since 2014, contactless (stimulation of the clitoris thanks to “waves” of pulsed air) has been on the rise. Invented in 2014 by the Womanizer company, the concept quickly became a worldwide bestseller.

"It's crazy to say that on masturbation, which is something that has existed since the dawn of time, we still manage to innovate with this kind of technology that will revolutionize the sector", analyzes Patrick Pruvo. Innovation calls for innovation. After Womanizer, other brands of adult toys are now establishing themselves in the “sextech” sector. Founded in 2003 by Swedish engineers, including one from Ericsson, the Lelo brand is now one of the most popular premium brands. His selling points?

The SenSonic Wave, an in-house technology that will make it possible to "make sound waves resonate at 360 ° to propagate in the body", explains Amandine Ranson, marketing and communications manager for France at Lelo. For her part, Lora DiCarlo continues to be a pioneer. This year, the brand launched Warming, a new range of vibrators with a thermally conductive nylon coating. Capable of reaching a temperature of 40 ° C, they would make it possible to "stimulate the blood microcirculation of the erogenous zones, relax external muscular tensions and increase general pleasure", just that.

5G and AI at the service of orgasm

In addition to offering its users technologies directly designed to increase their enjoyment, sextech has not escaped the birth of IoT and artificial intelligence. A sector still in its infancy, believes Patrick Pruvot, but which is beginning to prove its worth, especially during a period of confinement when sales of connected toys are exploding:

"The idea of ​​being able to control the pleasure of his or her partner from a distance is something attractive, especially at a time when the sextoy is mainly used as a couple," said the CEO of PassageduDésir.fr. (Re) connecting people in the midst of a pandemic, the idea is attractive.

With the deployment of 5G, connected objects (and in particular those linked to our sexuality) could thus experience unprecedented development prospects, believes Hugues Mariton, director of digital operations for the Dorcel brand: “This could bring enormous responsiveness to connected sextoys, and more generally on everything related to the IoT. If 5G keeps its promises, there will be a real comfort gap. This could, for example, make it possible to control a connected sex toy from anywhere in the world without any latency ”.

Personalizing the masturbatory experience of its clients is precisely the gamble recently made by the giant Dorcel. Last February, the brand launched its interactive platform Dorcel Podcast, designed in partnership with the Vokode agency.

The concept ? Immerse the Internet user in a tailor-made pornographic audio experience thanks to artificial intelligence. Designed as an “assembly of technological bricks”, the project integrates voice recognition as well as a complex decision-making tree intended to make the interlocutor interact with a conversational AI.

Technology, ambassador of "sexpositivism"?

In addition to spicing up our intimacy with increasingly intelligent toys, sextech has also been investing for a few years in a new vocation: that of allowing users to reclaim their own sexuality. Whether it is to strengthen your perineum with Kegel balls, or to cope with your illness better, sex toys now take on the role of "objects of well-being" explains sex therapist and couple therapist Céline Vendé: C 'this is where certain sextoy technologies, such as clitoral stimulators for example, can have a real therapeutic aspect. ”Beyond the sextoy market, the appearance of new technologies also makes it possible to highlight the idea of a positive, fulfilling and above all plural sexuality.

On YouTube and Instagram in particular, accounts sharing the idea of ​​inclusive and benevolent sexuality far from the clichés conveyed by mainstream pornography are increasingly popular.

New technologies have changed our interactions, especially on the romantic and sexual level. As long as you don't go overboard, this can be very positive. Especially in times of confinement, because people can get closer together more easily.